Why Mugabe dumped Kunonga

A highly-placed source told The Zimbabwean this week: “From the middle of last year, the President started regularly questioning the Kunonga project, especially during politburo meetings. He complained that Kunonga was not taking the party anywhere and pointed out that he had received reports indicating that the bishop was personally gaining from the project.”

In addition, Kunonga’s continued persecution of Anglicans was seen as achieving the opposite of what he had been assigned to do, as he was creating “too many enemies and unnecessarily discrediting the party”.

The final straw that broke Kunonga’s back, said the source, was the Supreme Court ruling that recently reversed the High Court order of 2011 and determined that since he left the Church in 2008, he could not claim ownership of Anglican property in Zimbabwe.

“He had become a burden and he is now finished. Did you ever wonder why the State media is the one that has been loudest in exposing Kunonga, especially after the Supreme Court ruling?” he asked.

Kunonga was roped into the Zanu (PF) commissariat in the late 1990s, when he was approached by the secret service while studying for a PhD in sociology in the United States.

In 1997, he was ordained as the Anglican Bishop of Harare by Bishop Peter Hatendi. At that time Kunonga had already become an ardent supporter of Zanu (PF), the source said.

He reportedly accepted the invitation to leave the US and come to work for Zanu (PF) from within the Church. Although he claimed to have completed his PhD, that was never verified.

“Kunonga came in as part of a project to rally Anglicans in Zimbabwe behind the party and guarantee it a steady support base. But he was a bad choice right from the start. Many people had been told that he was studying theology, yet he hardly knew anything about the Bible, even though he had some religious background,” added the source.

Even though his allegiance to Zanu (PF) was obvious to Anglicans in the early years, not many followers cared because the party was then accepted as the main political formation in the country.

“With the formation of the MDC in 1999, things started to change as politics fast became polarised. Kunonga gradually became heady and he was encouraged by the “system” because the Zanu (PF) support base was severely threatened. The thinking was that he would be able to ensure that Anglicans would be persuaded to stay with Zanu (PF). For several years, it was hoped that he would do so. He always claimed that he had a huge following, but some within the system doubted him,’’ said the source.

In his desperation to prove his allegiance to the party and Mugabe, Kunonga reportedly abused the pulpit to preach politics, and became infamous for demonising the opposition, western nations and homosexuals in his sermons.

In early 2008, in the run-up to the March general election, the Church of the Province of Central Africa dethroned him, but he retaliated by announcing a breakaway establishment, the Anglican Church of the Province of Zimbabwe.

This marked the beginning of massive legal battles and the grabbing of hundreds of Church properties across the country by members of his faction.

The High Court subsequently ordered that the two factions share the properties, leading to sometimes nasty physical confrontations, with the police clearly supporting Kunonga’s faction.

In August 2011, the High Court ruled that Anglican Church property in the Harare Diocese should be administered by Kunonga, forcing thousands of worshippers aligned to Chad Gandiya to worship in the open or to rent space.

During this period, Kunonga seized scores of churches, schools, hospitals and a shrine belonging to the Anglican Church. Some of the properties were converted into private lodgings while others were run as commercial entities.

Our source said Kunonga converted to his own use the thousands of dollars he received as rent from Anglican properties such as Pax House located next to Parliament, where numerous institutions and firms are tenants.

Kunonga, when contacted for a comment, seemed bitter about the State media blitz against him.

“I cannot tell you anything that The Herald does not know, so go and get answers from that newspaper. The journalists there are fully briefed on what is happening,” said Kunonga, who singled out one reporter from the stable who has consistently reported on the Anglican saga.

The revelations from our source have brought into doubt the impartiality of the judiciary, which in the past has been accused of pandering to the whims of Mugabe and Zanu (PF) and making rulings that align with their interests.

The party has consistently tried to use various churches to drum up support, including various apostolic sects and Obediah Musindo’s Destiny of Africa.